TROON, Scotland -- Rory McIlroy felt the wrath of the Postage Stamp.Strange, too, since this par-3 hole is more in line with what youd expect at the local muni, at least from a distance standpoint.If you get greedy at all there ..., said Kevin Na, his voice fading off.Enough said.The most famous hole at Royal Troon is one of the shortest youll find at any major championship. A mere 123 yards at its maximum, roughly the length of an American football field with the end zones included.But, ohhh, this tiny little patch of Scottish coastline, somehow crammed in between a gully and clinging to a sandhill at the far edge of the course hosting this weeks British Open, is a treacherous place indeed.Just ask McIlroy, who lofted a tee shot that drifted to the right during a practice round Tuesday.The ball skidded into a pin-high bunker, one of five penal pits strategically placed around the long but diabolically narrow green.McIlroy surveyed what he had done, and attempted to play out.Six swings later, he was finally on the green, having knocked three shots off the stacks of sod that line the pot bunker, two more that actually cleared the lip but rolled back into the sand.Had he actually been keeping score for real, it wouldve have been a 9.That didnt go too well, McIlroy said. There is a lot of sand in the bunker. So when the ball just trickles in back into the bunkers, it doesnt go into the middle. It sort of stays. Obviously that lip there is basically vertical, so it sort of just stayed there. And every time I tried to get it out, it would go back into the same spot.He can only hope that doesnt happen when the shots start counting for real on Thursday.Its one of those holes where you just try to hit it in the middle of the green, McIlroy said. Even though its only 115, 120 yards, you just have to not be that aggressive. Try to hit it in the middle. Hitting it into the middle of the green is a good shot, and then take two putts.While McIlroys struggles were a bit of an anomaly, European Tour up-and-comer Andrew Johnston endured what is likely to be a more common chain of events during the Open.Late in the afternoon, after the sun broke through the clouds for the first time in days and the nearby Irish Sea glistened in the glow, Johnston struck a tee shot that was right on the flag, careering into the green about 6 feet short of the cup.Then, the ball spun back off the ledge that serves as another line of defense, not stopping until it had dropped into the front bunker.Unlike McIlroy, Johnson got it out with one swing, the ball stopping about 12 feet past the flag. But the treacherous downhill putt came up short, leaving him with a bogey if he was actually keep score.Even for the best players in the world, par is an acceptable score.If you make four 3s there this week, McIlroy said, youre probably going to gain a bit of ground on the field.The hole got its name when two-time Open champion Willie Park Jr., writing in Golf Illustrated sometime after the turn of the last century, described it as a pitching surface skimmed down to the size of a postage stamp.The name stuck, and it couldnt be more appropriate.Its a special hole the way that the short par 3s of this world are special, said Colin Montgomerie, no doubt referring to others such as the 155-yard 12th at Augusta National.Theres never been a decent par 3 over 200 yards, in my opinion, built. (At) 123 yards, the expectation raises dramatically into, you are on that tee and you are a professional golfer, its your job and youre expected to hit this green at 123 yards. You could throw it on, really. I wish I could. And thats why its difficult.When the pin is at the back of the green, the Postage Stamp is especially challenging.You have to hit a shot where you know you are going to come up short, or just play to a certain spot, rather than whacking one up there and hoping for the best, Matthew Southgate said. Its one of them where you have to be precise. Ive got my mind on picking a small target and forget where you are, hit a good yardage and dodge the bunkers.On a calm day, it can be easy pickings for the pros.Of course, this being Scotland, the wind is usually blowing.Thats when the misery really begins.Anyone who wants to see potential train wrecks, if its blowing hard into it off the left, that would be the place to sit, Henrik Stenson said. On the scorecard, it doesnt look much, but when the wind is blowing and youve got to be precise with a 7-, 8-, 9-iron, something like that, into the wind there, its quite tricky.Thats what makes a marvelous hole.The Postage Stamp certainly delivers.---Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963 . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/paul-newberry . Air Max 720 Discount Ireland . Haas said he "felt a lot of pain" in his right shoulder when he slammed his racket to the ground in frustration after losing his serve at 3-3 in the first set. Wholesale Nike Air Max 720 . The 43-year-old closer, in his 19th and final big league season, has said hed like to play the outfield. Yankees manager Joe Girardi says hes thinking about allowing Rivera to do it this weekend, when the Yankees finish their season with a three-game series at the Houston Astros. http://www.airmax720ireland.com/ . Takahashi, who had a 10-point lead after the short program, received 268.31 points after the free skate to finish 15 points ahead of second-place Nobunari Oda. Cheapest Air Max 720 . LOUIS -- Mike Smith is used to facing plenty of shots, so this was nothing new. Nike Air Max 720 Ireland . Thats not a comment on the suspension that banished the Portland Winterhawks general manager and coach from his Western Hockey League teams bench for most of the 2012-13 season. The Los Angeles Lakers and free-agent center Timofey Mozgov have reached a verbal agreement on a four-year deal worth $64 million, a source told ESPN.The deal was first reported by The Vertical.The?Cleveland Cavaliers?traded two first-round picks to the Denver Nuggets for Mozgov in January 2015.His two seasons with Cleveland were relative opposites. In 2014-15, the 7-foot-1 center averaged 10.6 points and 6.9 rebounds in 46 games. He started all 20 games during the postseason, in which Cleveland lost to the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals.This pastt season, Mozgov saw his role significantly reduced.dddddddddddd He averaged 6.3 points and 4.4 rebounds during the regular season and just 1.2 points in 5.8 minutes during the postseason, which saw him play a combined 25 minutes in the Cavs seven-game Finals win over the Warriors.LeBron James tweeted his congratulations to Mozgov on Friday.Mozgov turns 30 on July 16.Information from ESPNs Ohm Youngmisuk was used in this report. ' ' '